Northern Paiute traditional narratives
Encyclopedia
Northern Paiute traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Northern Paiute
people of the Great Basin
deserts of western Nevada, eastern California
, and southeastern Oregon.
Northern Paiute oral literature is similar to that of the group's Numic
kinsmen, the Mono
, Shoshone
, and Southern Paiute. (See also Traditional narratives (Native California)
.)
Paiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
people of the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
deserts of western Nevada, eastern California
Eastern California
Eastern California is a term that refers to the eastern region of California, United States. It can refer to either the strip to the east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada, or to the easternmost counties of California.-Culture and history:...
, and southeastern Oregon.
Northern Paiute oral literature is similar to that of the group's Numic
Numic languages
Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for "person." For...
kinsmen, the Mono
Mono tribe
The Mono are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Eastern Sierra , the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin.-Culture and geography:...
, Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
, and Southern Paiute. (See also Traditional narratives (Native California)
Traditional narratives (Native California)
The Traditional Narratives of Native California are the legends, tales, and oral histories that survive as fragments of what was undoubtedly once a vast unwritten literature.-History of Studies:...
.)
On-Line Examples of Northern Paiute Narratives
- The North American Indian by Edward S. CurtisEdward S. CurtisEdward Sheriff Curtis was a photographer of the American West and of Native American peoples.-Early life:...
(1926)
Sources for Northern Paiute Narratives
- Bright, William. 1993. A Coyote Reader. University of California Press, Berkeley. (A narrative based on Ramsey 1973, pp. 37-38.)
- Curtis, Edward S. 1907-1930. The North American Indian. 20 vols. Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts. (Six myths collected from Blind Tom (Walker River) and Billy Williams (Honey Lake), vol.15, pp. 129-149.)
- Fowler, Don D., and Catherine S. Fowler. 1971. Anthropology of the Numa: John Wesley Powell's Manuscripts on the Numic Peoples of Western North America, 1868-1880. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology No. 14. Washington, D.C. (Northern Paiute myths, pp. 218-229, 242, 246-248.)
- Kelly, Isabel T. 1938. "Northern Paiute Tales". Journal of American Folklore 51:363-438. (Narratives, including Bear and Fawns, collected in 1930.)
- Lowie, Robert H. 1924. "Shoshonean Tales". Journal of American Folklore 37:1-242. (Northern Paiute narratives, including Theft of Fire, collected in 1914, pp. 200-242.)
- Marsden, W. L. 1923. "The Northern Paiute Language of Oregon". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 20:175-191. Berkeley. (Traditional narratives, pp. 181-191.)
- Ramsey, Jarold. 1977. Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country. University of Washington Press, Seattle. (20 narratives published by Kelly and Marsden, pp. 231-259.)
- Steward, Julian H. 1936. "Myths of the Owens Valley Paiute". University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 34:355-440. Berkeley. (Five Mono Lake Paiute myths, pp. 428-433.)
- Steward, Julian H. 1943. "Some Western Shoshoni Myths". Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 136:249-299. Washington, D.C. (Three short myths collected in 1935 in Winnemucca, pp. 260, 297-299.)